Pegasus Theatre wraps up its 37th Young Playwrights Festival this week. This year’s festival features one-act plays by four Chicago high school students who worked with teachers to submit their work. Professional actors perform the winning scripts.

“It was really empowering,” said Grant Parris, one of the playwrights. He and another winner, Alexander Loaiza, submitted their plays to the festival last year and are now freshmen in college.

In this episode, host Erin Allen talks to Parris and Loaiza about what it was like to see their words come to life onstage.